Marketing Nuggets from Dr. Dan-o

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We Create our Own Future

Mr. Mike has a great one for us. Remember, in my teaching philosophy post, I stressed, “knowledge is constructed, not received.” We create our knowledge from what we learn and we also create our future from what we do. Plan ahead – place those “big rocks” first and lead yourself to the future where you want to be.

Best

Dr. Dan-o

To: The Great Leaders Who Have a Passion for Continuous Learning

In preparing for a recent speaking engagement about goal setting, I came across a quote that dramatically captured an exciting new way to look at the future.

“The future is not a result of choices among alternative paths offered by the present, but a place that is created — created first in the mind and will, created next in activity. The future is not some place we are going to, but one we are creating. The paths are not to be found, but made, and the activity of making them, changes both the maker and the destination.”

The words suggest changing how we look at the future, not as passive acts of finding and discovery, but ones of ‘making’ and ‘creating.’ With this simple shift, the future comes to life. It is no longer then, it is now. No longer do we focus on the destination, but on the creation of that destination, the journey itself. We actively choose our paths, deliberately with conviction and passion. We choose not to let life just happen to us. We are the creators, the makers of our destiny. We have the joy of searching for and finding the infinite possibilities within us and in the world and people around us. In the joyfulness and beauty of your creations, remember the words of Marilyn Ferguson, American author: “Your past in not your potential. In any hour you can choose to liberate the future.” As you make your journey think of the Three Stone Cutters Story:

“One day a traveler, walking along a lane, came across three stonecutters working in a quarry. Each was busy cutting a block of stone. Interested to find out what they were working on, he asked the first stonecutter what he was doing. ‘I am cutting a stone!’ Still no wiser the traveler turned to the second stonecutter and asked him what he was doing. ‘I am cutting this block of stone to make sure that it’s square, and its dimensions are uniform, so that it will fit exactly in its place in a wall.’ A bit closer to finding out what the stonecutters were working on but still unclear, the traveler turned to the third stonecutter. He seemed to be the happiest of the three and when asked what he was doing replied: ‘I am building a cathedral.’”

May your journey be filled with magnificent creations – seeing cathedrals in stones – as you fulfill your life’s purpose on a beautiful and wondrous journey!